LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 
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@!jap — ^ 

ShelfiH.v55 

— 

| UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



OUR NEW BUILDING: 

Zbc Epwovtb league. 



BY 



REV, JOHN E. HARRISON, 

A Member of the Epworth League Board. 



WITH INTRODUCTION BY 



REV. W. W. PINSON, 

Of the West Texas Conference, 



Nasbtyille, Tenn.: 

Printed for the Author 

1895. 




a*7 



6 



Zo tfftg /Ifootbcr, 

WHO CAKED FOR ME IN INFANCY, TRAINED ME IN 
BOYHOOD, AND LIVES TO ENCOURAGE 

ME IN MANHOOD, 
/ DEDICATE THIS LITTLE VOLUME. 

(2) 



THE LIBRARY 
OF C ONG RBH 

WASHINGTON 



BARBEE & SMITH, AGENTS, 
PRINTERS AND BINDERS, 
NASHVILLE, TE.NN. 



COPYRIGHT, 1695. 



PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION. 



"Our New Building" has received com- 
mendatory notices from quite a number of our 
Church papers and from some of our leading 
men. 

The reception accorded it and the kind 
words from readers of it encourage the au- 
thor to believe that this little book may be 
blessed of God in helping to found the Bp- 
worth League of the M. E. Church, South, 
on those essential doctrines and principles of 
the Bible, the preaching and practicing of 
which gave rise to Methodism. 

The book was born of a desire to see our 
young people build aright and upon the sure 
foundation, and this edition is sent forth 
with a prayer that it may accomplish some- 
thing for the glory of God and the vigorous 
and spiritual growth of the Epworth League. 

(3) 



INTRODUCTION. 



" that mine adversary had written a book ! " 
But my 'friend has written a book. What then? 
Why, write an introduction, of course. The reader 
may skip it, as readers generally do, but write I 
must. For do I not remember the halcyon days 
when the author and I struggled amid the bewil- 
dering mazes of the Greek verb, wrote first-rate po- 
etry of which the world was not aware, and tried 
the temper of our maiden swords in glorious de- 
bate? 

If he had written a dull book, I should have read 
it for the author's sake; as it is, I shall read it and 
ask others to read it for its own sake. Given a 
good writer, a good reason for writing, and a good 
subject, the result cannot be less than a good book. 
We have here the outcome of this happy combi- 
nation. 

The Epworth League has in it the germs of won- 
drous possibilities. The nature and variety of its 
methods fit the fancy of the young. It has already 
laid hold on the latent and hitherto neglected 
strength and enthusiasm of the young life of the 
Church with a success clearly prophetic of the de- 
velopment yet to be. It promises a class of trained 
workers for the Church of the future as superior to 

C5) 



6 



Oue New Building. 



the untrained as the veteran soldier is to the raw 
recruit. 

But it promises to be no less valuable as a re- 
straining and disciplinary influence than as a train- 
ing schooL It has come to us at a time when the 
Church is finding it increasingly difficult to keep 
her young people from entering forbidden paths. 
The influence of worldly associations and the at- 
tractions of a vicious literature have been hard to 
withstand. Hard because, perhaps, our efforts have 
been mainly negative. We have relied on "thou 
shalt not.'' We forgot it is easier to turn a stream 
than to dam it, to switch an engine than to block 
its way. The Ep worth League has cut new chan- 
nels for the fiery energies of our youth. It is des- 
tined to rob the ballroom and card table of their 
charm by furnishing a higher style of enjoyment. 
It will counteract the influence of worldly associa- 
tions by furnishing a higher and holier basis of fel- 
lowship. It will break the spell of vicious litera- 
ture by opening to the curious and hungry mind 
the pages of a noble and ennobling literature. 

Perhaps our religious training has been too 
much after the fashion of old time medical practice. 
The doctors, we younger ones are told, used to value 
their remedies largely by their distastefulness. 
They even put burnt bread crust or some bitter 
bark in God's pure water that it might not taste 
good to the patient. Have we not in spiritual 
things proceeded on the hypothesis that, since holy 



Introduction. 



7 



things must be distasteful to the carnal mind, there- 
fore the more we can make the offices of religion 
a crucifixion to the flesh the more surely we meet 
the needs of the case? I have found no other the- 
ory to account for some prayer meetings. 

The Epworth League has come to teach us — or 
perhaps it has come because we had already 
learned — that spiritual things are not more effective 
by being made distasteful. Who ever thought a 
child would more readily find God in nature if all 
the flowers were black, the streams sunless and si- 
lent, and the birds sang ever in a minor key? -May 
we not hope to find one day how he who took the 
little ones in his arms can fill and thrill young life 
at every stage with spontaneous and healthy love of 
what is holiest and best the same as with a love of 
beauty in nature? Perhaps, when we know him 
better. 

At least we do not believe worship is less real 
because the surroundings are not suggestive of in- 
quisitorial tortures, nor that a sermon is more sav- 
ing because it happens to be dull, nor that a song 
is less akin to angelic choruses because it rises and 
swells with jubilant pulse of glad young hearts. To 
adjust our religious machinery to the young is a 
hard lesson, yet it must be learned. Not that the 
standard should be lowered. Xo a thousand times. 
But to oil the wheels and adjust the harness com- 
fortably to the draft horse is suggested not only by 
the law of kindness, but by economy of oats as well. 



6 



Ouit New Building. 



One of the needs the Epworth League has dis- 
covered, is that of a literature suited to its members ; 
a literature more serious and lofty than the aver- 
age Sunday school story and less didactic and 
weighty than the average theological treatise; a 
literature shot through with the holiest thoughts 
and noblest aspirations of our holy religion and 
"withal broadly and bravely denominational. 

"Our Xew Building" is a contribution to this 
need. The author is a young man, not far enough 
from his own youth to have quite forgotten what 
would have pleased and helped him in that nas- 
cent and restless period. He has chosen wisely 
and treated well his subject. He has steered clear 
of sensationalism and mere sentimentality. There 
is an encouraging solidity about the title, and the 
table of contents proves that the author keeps faith 
with us throughout. He has not written simply to 
entertain, but to help the building. May the book 
be read, pondered, and practiced by thousands! 

W. W. PrNsox. 

San Antonio, Tex., March 9 } 1894. 



CONTENTS. 



Chapter. Page. 

I. Building 11 

II. A Good Foundation Essential. ... 17 

III. A Young People's Movement the 

Harbinger of Methodism 21 

IV. Methodism : England's Keed of It, 29 
Y. Methodism: How It Brought Help. 36 

VI. The Foundation Stones 42 

VII. The Use of Means 54 

VIII. The Demand for the League 62 

IX. The Plan of the Building 74 

X. Material: Bible Study 84 

XL Material: Works of Charity and 

Help..., 93 

XII. Material: Methodist Literature . . 99 

XIII. Material: Social Enjoyment Ill 

(9) 



I. 

Building. 

NEW building has been in proc- 
ess of erection in our Church 
for the past three years, and our 
young people, singing and rejoicing 
as they laid stone upon stone in the 
rapidly rising wall, have been the 
happy builders. 

Permission was granted four years 
ago by the fathers in council assem- 
bled, for the formulation of a plan of 
work by which the edifice might be 
enterprised ; and so soon as that plan 
was announced, all over the South- 
land eager and consecrated young 
people heartily joined together to 

begin work on the new building. 

(11) 




12 



Oue New Building. 



The gladness and readiness of 
spirit with which the young people 
responded to the opportunity make 
plain the facts that they felt the need 
of some definite line of work in the 
Church and that at heart thev were 
willing to do their part in building 
up the kingdom of our Lord and 
Saviour. Jesus Christ, 

All things considered, the devel- 
opment of the Ep worth League work 
in our Church has been remarkable. 

It has not partaken of ephemeral 
growth, like a mushroom, to spring 
up in a night and perish in a dav. 
but from the first in its progress as 
a movement of Christian effort has 
manifested a solidity and strength 
prophetic of its future power. 



Building. 



13 



There are no signs of spasmodic 
or short-lived activity that busily 
works until the novelty wears away, 
then leaves the incomplete and de- 
serted walls to excite in all beholders 
a contempt for such lack of sincerity 
and steadfastness. A number of 
Leagues, we admit, after organizing 
hopefully, have very soon perished 
for the lack of interest ; but the gen- 
eral development seems to have been 
such that as a rule the young people 
have gathered strength and interest 
as they gained experience and knowl- 
edge of League work. And now, 
since the proposed building has been 
approved and the workers have been 
organized and authorized to complete 
the promising structure under the 



14 Our New Building. 

authority and by the aid of our be- 
loved Church, we may with increased 
zeal and confidence take up the work 
anew and endeavor to make this the 
most wonderful movement of the 
Church in the closing decade of the 
nineteenth century. 

We rejoice in the workers and in 
the excellent work already done, and 
so pleased are we that it is earnest- 
ly desired to see the whole struc- 
ture finished in the very best possi- 
ble manner. In erecting a building, 
however, especially if it be a large 
one, that is a profitable use of time 
which is spent in judicious consulta- 
tion. Therefore we call the builders 
to pause long enough from work to 
join in a friendly talk about the 



Building. 



15 



things pertaining to this interesting 
structure. As in the erection of ma- 
terial buildings regard is to be had 
for the principles of architecture, 
much more so in spiritual edifices are 
the appropriate and governing j)rin- 
ciples to be given due consideration 
by the builders. 

Wherefore, without assuming over 
you superiority of knowledge or a 
more intense interest in the Epworth 
League, we have felt moved, in an 
unpretentious way, to call the atten- 
tion of the workers to some things 
of importance connected with this 
building. So vital to the interests 
of Methodism is this work in which 
you are now engaged, that it would 
characterize stolid indifference con- 



16 Our 2s ew Building. 

cerning its welfare to be careless of 
the building now going up, or of the 
foundation upon which it is being 
erected. You are well aware that 
the higher the walls reach, and the 
nearer completion the building grows, 
the more disastrous would be the 
collapse if any fundamental principle 
of building should be ignored. AVe 
are not looking for a collapse of this 
work; we prophesy good concerning 
it, and in order to help make our 
prophecy a realization, we propose to 
scrutinize the work as it progresses. 

We therefore ask you to consider 
with us awhile the first essential to 
stability and permanency of build- 
ings. This we shall allot to another 
chapter. 



II. 



A Good Foundation Essential. 
^HE Son of God— the son of Mary 



— who spake as never man 
spake, emphasized in the Sermon on 
the Mount the importance of a solid 
foundation to support a building. 
We all know that though a man build 
well, though he erect a commodious 
and substantial house, yet if he is so 
thoughtless as to neglect securing for 
it a solid foundation, the whole edi- 
fice is liable to a complete collapse. 
And this direful catastrophe might 
be due solely to the fact that the foun- 
dation was not duly considered. If 
the foundation be washed from under 




2 



(17) 



18 



Our New Building. 



a building, the ruin will be in pro- 
portion to the inassiveness cf the 
structure. This great building, the 
Epworth League, which you are now 
erecting, if founded on the sand, when 
you have brought it to a happy com- 
pletion and while you are crying, 
" Grace, grace unto it!" would, if 
struck by the floods, in its mighty 
fall bring harm to our Zion. 

The importance of having a strong 
and secure foundation is seen in the 
fact that when God would build his 
Church in the world, he used four 
thousand years of the earth's history 
in laying the foundation stones of his 
spiritual kingdom among men. Thus 
the Lord laid an immovable and ad- 
amantine foundation in the apostles 



A Good Foundation Essential. 19 

and prophets, Jesus Christ himself 
being the chief corner stone. The 
Church built upon it must stand the 
flood tide of evil; but being support- 
ed by such a base, the gates of hell 
may assault in vain, because it rests 
on the impregnable rock. Then we 
think it is a pertinent and timely 
query which we here raise — namely, 
Is the foundation sufficient? You 
are building a Christian structure 
after the plan of Methodist archi- 
tecture. The foundation must be 
good all around the great circumfer- 
ence. So we would call to each sec- 
tion of workers and to each individ- 
ual worker to know whether the 
foundation is solid and broad enough 
for the building. But vou may ask: 



20 Que New Building. 



44 How shall we know whether the 
foundation is sufficient? What con- 
stitutes a sufficiency? " This we 
shall be glad to answer; but in or- 
der to do so to the satisfaction and 
instruction of all it will be neces- 
sary for us to consider in the next 
few r chapters some matters of his- 
tory which will throw light upon the 
subject and in all probability enable 
us to see eye to eye on this impor- 
tant question. 

We ask you then to go back w r ith 
us to the year of our Lord 1729, and 
let us enter Oxford University, En- 
gland, and there find the first young- 
people's movement of modern times. 



III. 

A Young People's Movement the 
Harbinger of Methodism. 

Jf $ POX investigation we find that 
the great spiritual force de- 
nominated Methodism did not spring 
into existence unannounced, or enter 
upon its world-wide career without 
a forerunner to prepare the way for 
its coming. We find that ten years 
before Methodism properly became 
a revival power in England there 
was organized at Oxford University, 
by several students, among whom 
were John and Charles Wesley, a 
young men's league for the purpose 

of studying systematically the New 

(21) 



22 Our New Building* 

Testament in Greek, and of seeking 
a better life and assisting each other 
to attain it. Very soon there was 
added to their study and prayer an- 
other then unpopular but very impor- 
tant department: that of charity and 
help. As they prayed and read and 
talked in the privacy of their room, 
their hearts went out to others, and 
especially to the unfortunate and suf- 
fering. So a natural outcome of it 
was a regular visitation to the sick, 
the needy, and the imprisoned for the 
purpose of ministering to their tem- 
poral and spiritual wants. 

These youno- men who formed this 
league had not been converted — that 
is, had not a conscious salvation, 
though they were all members of 



A Young People's Movement. 23 



the Church of England, and had 
been brought up in the orthodox 
faith. Thev were intellectually and 
experimentally ignorant of the deep 
spirituality of the New Testament, 
their lives having come under the in* 
fluence then prevailing, which, hav- 
ing lost the power of the gospel in 
its letter, magnified intellectual or- 
thodoxy to the almost total obscura* 
tion of the deeper teachings of the 
Scriptures concerning personal sal- 
vation. So that these students who 
were strangers to the power of spir* 
itual regeneration—the being made 
new creatures in Christ Jesus — not- 
having a consciousness of sins for- 
given, were being led by the Holy 
Spirit in the formation of that first 



24 



Our New Building. 



young people's league of modern 
times, and in following the guidance 
of the Spirit they pursued a line of 
study and action that brought them 
into the light and power of vital 
godliness. 

They had been baptized in infancy, 
confirmed in youth, and were then 
in good standing in the Established 
Church, and some of them had even 
been set apart for the gospel minis- 
try; but all this, while proper and 
becoming, did not satisfy their long- 
ings — did not give to them the 
peace that passeth all understand- 
ing. 

Therefore, discovering in each 
other oneness of purpose, they 
banded themselves together in order 



A Young People's Movement. 25 

to seek each for himself, and to help 
others attain the highest New Testa- 
ment standard of experience and 
life. 

In seeking to attain this end, they 
were led to live very economically in 
order that they might reserve out of 
their meager support funds with 
which to succor the indigent and 
the afflicted. 

This league developed in them a 
methodical life. Every hour, every 
moment was an opportunity for im- 
proving oneself or for doing good 
to others, so they sought to be nev- 
er unemployed, never triflingly em- 
ployed. 

This manner of living soon 
brought upon them the scorn and 



26 Our New Building. 

jeering of their fellow-students, who, 
in the vanity of their hearts, saw 
in the league only that which ex- 
cited their contempt. They ap- 
plied to these methodical and seri- 
ous young men the opprobrious epi* 
thet 4 1 Methodists," which, borne bv 
them as a mark of reproach, became 
in after years the synonym for applied 
Christianity set on fire by the Holy 
Spirit. 

Those thus banded together did 
not set themselves up to be holier 
and better than other people, for 
they began, according to John Wes- 
ley, by finding fault with them- 
selves, and with that self-censure as 
a basis, they made daily searching 
into the life of the great Exemplar 



A Youxg People's Movement. 27 
in order that thev might assimilate 

%J o 

more closely his matchless charac- 
ter. Thev were preeminently stu- 
dents of the Scriptures, but did not 
omit the reading of other helpful lit- 
erature, such as the biographies of 
great and holy men, and the literary 
product of consecrated intellect. 

Xotice how the purposes and aims 
of the first young people's band coin- 
cide with the object sought to be ob- 
tained by this great work in which 
you are now engaged. First, the 

«/ O CD ' 

careful study of the Bible for indi- 
1/ 

vidual and mutual profit, and prayer 
for and with one another. Secondly, 
the effort to conform their lives to 
the requirements of the gospel. 
Thirdly, the ministering to the 



28 Our New Building. 

wants of others, both to the needv 
poor and to the spiritually destitute. 
And lastly, the reading of such lit- 
erature as tended to build up 
strength and Christian manhood. 

But, dear friends, do not conclude 
that we have here disclosed the foun- 
dation stones of the Epworth League, 
for the true and unshaken foundation 
which was laid by Christ himself 
was not fully traced and built upon 
until after the Wesleya had pene- 
trated to and applied to themselves 
the deep spiritual teaching of Jesus. 
Therefore we shall be led to consid- 
er, in the next chapter, that wonder- 
ful movement called Methodism. 



IV. 



Methodism : England's Need of It. 

T the beginning of the second 
quarter of the eighteenth cen- 
tury we found the Holy Club formed 
at Oxford, the center of English 
learning. 

We will, therefore, from that point 
of view examine for a while the con- 
dition of the people in order to better 
understand the work of Methodism. 
We find the Establishment with cost- 
ly churches, with learned prelates, 
but with empty pews. The reading 
of Scripture lessons, the ritual, and 
prayers, and the preaching of ser- 
mons were conducted and delivered 

(29) 



30 Our New Building. 



by men set apart to that office and 
work. There was not a lack of 
clergymen, nor was there a dearth 
of learning or of eloquence in the 
pulpit. It could not be charged 
truthfully that all the ministers were 
ungodly men, for among them were 
many excellent Christian characters. 
But it is a fact that they read service 
to comparatively empty pews, and 
great sermons were delivered to very 
few hearers, while the masses of the 
people were almost totally without 
the gospel. There was a great dis- 
tance between the pulpit and the peo- 
ple: so much so that w^hile the Sun- 
day service was being conducted in 
the temples of w r orship the people 
were giving themselves over to un- 



Methodism: England's Need of It. 31 



bridled licentiousness, and were de- 
graded in habit and vicious in con- 
duct, heeding not the call of the 
church bells and regarding not the 
laws of God. This was peculiarly 
the condition of the laboring class. 
The middle class of Englishmen were 
less depraved, and formed the moral 
element of the kingdom. The upper 
class and the nobility w r ere given to 
more refined but equally vicious hab- 
its and sinful pleasures. Adding to 
their irreligious manner of life an- 
other destructive element, they drift- 
ed away into deism, skepticism, and 
infidelity. Now when this became 
alarmingly manifest, the learned 
bishops and clergymen devoted their 
best thought and energy to contend- 



32 Our New Building. 

ing against the inroads of deistic 
and infidel influences. About that 
time Butler wrote his great "Analo- 
gy." The prelates wrote learned 
treatises in defense of the Christian 
religion, preached orthodoxy from 
the pulpits, and earnestly contended 
against the popular phases of unbe- 
lief; but it was the intellectual Chris- 
tianity they advocated, it was mere- 
ly intellectual unbelief they combat- 
ed. The form of godliness was there, 
but its spiritual power was conspicu- 
ously absent. Butler and his fellow- 
combatants in the struggle against 
deism won a great victory for intel- 
lectual faith in the Christian religion, 
but brought to bear no restraint upon 
the vice and degeneracy of the peo- 



Methodism: England's Xeed or It. 33 

pie; so that the condition of the 
wealthy, the educated, and the nobil- 
ity was deplorable enough, even aft- 
er the influences of deism and skep- 
ticism had been greatly weakened, 
because they were left without the 
blessings of a gospel of peace and 
power. But the mass of the people, 
the working class in the collieries 
and shops, untouched by the intel- 
lectual force of Christianity and un- 
restrained by the preaching and ex- 
emplifyingof a holy life, followed the 
depraved tendency of their fallen 
nature, and thus gave themselves up 
to vice in its worst form. 

The clergy of the Church of En- 
gland were equal to the task of re- 
pelling the invading forces of de« 
3 



34 Oue New Building. 

ism ; but, though many of them no 
doubt deplored the degeneracy and 
wickedness of the people, they stood 
paralyzed before the tide of iniquity 
that was flooding the nation. They 
were trained to combat an intellect- 
ual foe, but had not learned the art 
of fighting against sin. 

Logic will do to thrust at a mental 
disquiet, but it takes the power of 
the Holy Spirit in the preacher to 
strike down sin. This the clergy did 
not have; and so, unless help had 
come from another source, all their 
triumph over heterodoxy had been 
fruitless. 

This state of religious affairs in 
England, and its consequent influence 
upon both the highest and the lowest 



Methodism: England's Need of It. 35 



elements of society, called loudly for 
help. There was a great need of 
the Holy Spirit's coming into the 
hearts of the ministers that his pow- 
er might be bestowed upon the peo- 
ple. While the clergy were standing 
helpless before this appalling need, 
those young men of the Oxford Club 
had found God and had been anoint- 
ed of the Holy Ghost to organize a 
force for England's regeneration. 



Methodism: How It Beought Help. 



i|E concluded the previous chap- 



ter with England in great need 
of some power to save the people 
from sin and to turn them unto 
peaceable and holy lives. We saw 
that the clergy of the Established 
Church, if they desired to do so, ut- 
terly failed to accomplish this end. 
Let us advance a few years and 
then stop and take a look at these 
same people whom we last beheld a 
mass of corruption and iniquity. 
Behold w r hat a marvelous change has 
taken place! We saw before great 
churches without w r orshipers, while 




f36^ 



How Methodism Brought Help. 37 



nearby the people desecrated the holy 
day. Now what do we see ? There is 
a vast congregation, numbering from 
ten to twenty thousand souls, gath- 
ered around a stand in one of the 
English commons. They have come 
to hear the gospel preached by a 
Methodist preacher, and as he pro- 
claims the power of Christ to save 
from sin the people are melted to 
tears, and as he declares God's de- 
nunciation of sin the people tremble 
and cry aloud for mercy. Not only 
the poor and the lowty in the ranks of 
life are found here, but among them, 
rejoicing in conscious salvation or 
weeping over their profligacy, are 
seen some of the rich and noble of 
the realm. Is not it a wonderful 



38 Our New Building. 

change we now observe in a few 
years wrought in the lives of the 
people? The proud and arrogant 
are humbled and become fellow suf- 
erers and workers in the kingdom 
and patience of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. Observe the laborers in 
the shops and the collieries. Pro- 
fanity has given place to the songs 
of Zion, ribaldry to hallelujahs, fight- 
ing to brotherly love, and hatred to 
peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. 
Now this reformation of human lives 
was the supreme need of England, 
and Methodism was used bvthe gra- 
cious Lord as the instrument un- 
der the influence of the Spirit for 
its accomplishment This is the 
way it was brought about. John 



How Methodism Brought Help. 39 

and Charles Wesley, together with 
the other members of that band of 
Oxford students, continued to seek 
for the truth after they left the uni- 
versity. Whether in England or in 
Georgia among the early settlers of 
Savannah, the Wesleys desisted not 
from an earnest longing after spirit- 
ual life — sonship in the gospel. 
John Wesley afterward wrote a ser- 
mon in w r hich he drew the distinc- 
tion between sons and servants of 
God. He sought to be admitted into 
the family of God by adoption. 

After John and Charles had been 
preaching for several years, they 
both came into the clear experience 
of regeneration by the power of God, 
and received the witness of the Spir- 



40 Oue New Building. 

it testifying to their adoption into 
the heavenly family, and were endued 
with power from on high after that 
the Holy Spirit had descended upon 
them. 

The gospel of Christ is the power of 
God unto salvation to every one that 
belie veth, but the vehicle of that gospel 
must himself be a living example of its 
wonderful power in order for its influ- 
ence to move the multitudes. The 
apostles themselves were not pre- 
pared to carry salvation to the people 
until they had felt in themselves the 
power of the Holy Spirit. So J ohn and 
Charles Weslev and the Methodists 
not only learned the doctrines of the 
New Testament, but they became the 
vehicles of the heavenly power, and 



How Methodism Brought Help. 41 

carried to the people not only sound 
doctrines, but also the power and 
the demonstration of the Holy Ghost. 
And the plain story of the cross and 
the doctrines of salvation from the 
lips and lives of those men drew to 
them the flocking thousands of hun- 
gry souls. Thus the preaching of 
spiritual religion by men who had 
experienced its power in their own 
lives brought to England the help so 
much needed. 

It is now necessary for us to ad- 
vance to one more point of consid- 
eration before we reach the founda- 
tion upon which it is desired to rest 
the walls of this new and massive 
building. Let us then in another chap- 
ter trace out the foundation stones. 



VL 

The Foundation Stones. 



C|J^HE conversion of the Wesleys 
^jr was a clear and powerful work 
of God in the washing of regenera- 
tion and the renewing of the Holy 
Ghost. With their conversion Meth- 
odism as a mighty spiritual force be- 
gan its mission in the world. Now 
from that beginning point until the 
present day Methodism has been uni- 
form in its doctrines and aim. What 
are the distinguishing doctrines of 
Methodism, the preaching and ex- 
emplifying of which brought redemp- 
tion to England? Are they not 
(42) 



The Foundation Stones. .43 



these two: Regeneration and the 
witness of the Spirit? Martin Lu- 
ther had as the fundamental teach- 
ing in his great religious upheaval 
the doctrine of justification by faith, 
and this was plainly and forcibly de- 
clared to the people by the Metho- 
dists, but the doctrinal basis upon 
which Methodism rests may be safe- 
ly put down as regeneration and the 
witness of the Spirit. 

What wrought the gracious change 
in the condition of the masses of 
England ? It was the Holy Spirit's 
power making them new creatures 
in Christ Jesus. No refining and 
elevating influence is sufficient to 
permanently change a vicious com- 
munity into one of peace and sobri- 



44 Our New Building. 

ety, unless it possesses the author- 
ity and power of making men new 
creatures. 

Regeneration is "the divine act 
which imparts to the penitent be- 
liever the new and higher life in per- 
sonal union with Christ.'' Metho- 
dism brought forward that essential 
doctrine, not new. but forgotten, and 
in the preaching of it men were in- 
fluenced to turn from sin and to seek 
with all their hearts the crucified Sav- 
iour, who in manifesting himself to 
them as the Life, changed them, 
through the operation of the Holy 
Ghost, from the power and dominion 
of sin unto, holiness of life and heart. 
Seeking to lead a new life, joining the 
Church, attending upon its ordinan- 



The Foundation Stones. 



45 



ces, and doing deeds of charity are good 
in their place, but they should never 
be allowed by you to be a substitute in 
your lives for that essential work of 
the Holy Ghost in regeneration of 
which Jesus said: " Ye must be born 
again." Now this doctrine is one 
stratum of the foundation upon which 
you should build the walls of the 
Epworth League. 

The other doctrine, that of the 
witness of the Spirit, has been pe- 
culiarly characteristic of Methodist 
preaching. It involves a conscious- 
ness of membership in the heavenly 
family. It is the Spirit's testimony 
to our spirits that we are children of 
God. This, like the other doctrine, 
is of God and not of man, and is 



46 Our New Building. 



verv full of comfort and cheer. The 

at 

Holy Spirit bearing witness with 
mine that I am a child of God! 
That fills the heart full of gladness 
and makes a happy Christian. How 
dark is the denial of this ! That one 
may not know his sins forgiven and 
may not know his name inscribed in 
heaven dooms him to a joyless serv- 
ice. But the blessed Spirit's witness 
inspires to loving and joyful obedi- 
ence. It is a hopeful doctrine even 
to those in the Church who have not 
been regenerated; for if they, like 
John and Charles Wesley, will seek 
the Lord with their whole hearts, 
they shall find him, be touched by 
the regenerating power, and receive 
the Spirit's witness to their salvation. 



The Foundation Stones. 47 

This doctrine is the second stratum 
of the foundation which underlies 
and supports all the structure of 
Methodism and which must be built 
upon by the Ep worth League if we 
would make it the building God in- 
tends it to be. 

The aim of Methodism is twofold. 
When a sinner has been born from 
above, then only is he able to lead a 
new and consecrated life of service 
to Christ and his Church. So Meth- 
odism seeks to build up in the indi- 
vidual life which has been renewed 
unto a spiritual relation with Christ 
the character conformed to the laws 
of God. A Methodist, according to 
the definition given by John Wes- 
ley in his dictionary, is one who 



48 Our New Building. 

lives according to the principles of 
the New Testament. It involves, 
therefore, the consecration of indi- 
vidual life to the Saviour manifest- 
ed in a willing conformity to his 
law as laid down in the New Testa- 
ment, and enforced upon our con- 
sciences by the Holy Spirit. A re- 
generated person may be a very poor 
Methodist by not seeking to order 
his life after the precepts of Christ. 
So that Methodism seeks the full 
consecration of individual lives in 
loving obedience to all the require- 
ments of the gospel. 

The blessed Saviour called for this 
consecration, and the apostles in their 
letters to Christians urged the sanc- 
tification, or setting apart, of all the 



The Foundation Stones. 49 



powers of mind and heart to loving 
and serving God. 

And, dear reader, this is a funda- 
mental principle in Methodism. It 
involves a prayerful, persistent, and 
trustful effort on the part of each 
Christian to bring every thought, act, 
word, imagination, and aspiration 
into complete subjection to Christ. 
Now this forms the third stratum that 
in uniform strength and beauty is 
laid by the divine hand completely 
around the foundation of our new 
building. 

The other aim that is fundamental 

to Methodism is involved in the 

great commission: "Go ye into all 

the world, and preach the gospel to 

every creature." It is to develop in 
4 



50 Our New Building. 

the people called Methodists a yearn- 
ing for the salvation of souls, and the 
bestowing of the individual energy, 
prayer, time, and means to the con- 
version of sinners, at home and in 
the farthest regions of the earth. It 
is the principle of Missions, Domestic 
and Foreign. It was manifest in 
Wesley, who said, " The world is my 
parish ;" and glowed in the heart of 
Bishop Coke, who traversed the seas 
in seeking to carry the gospel of peace 
to the heathen. It was fanned into 
a flame of enthusiasm by our fathers 
of American Methodism who trav- 
eled through the forests infested with 
hostile Indians in order to tell to the 
settlers of this new world the story 
of the crucifixion ; to preach the for- 



The Foundation Stones. 51 

giveness of sins, the new life in Christ, 
and the witness of the Spirit, and to 
encourage to a holy life those who 
had accepted the Saviour. This forms 
the fourth stratum of the foundation. 

Now, my dear fellow-laborers, here 
is disclosed what we deem the foun- 
dation upon which our new structure 
must rest. It is the foundation laid 
by the Lord and built upon by Meth- 
odism. This new building is to be 
for God ; then we must build on the 
rock foundation of God. It is to be 
after the plan of Methodist architec- 
ture, then let it have a Methodist 
foundation. John, in the Apoca- 
lypse, was permitted to see the New 
Jerusalem, and discovered twelve 
foundations. In observing Metho- 



52 Our New Building. 



dism we have found these four : the 
doctrines of regeneration and of the 
witness of the Spirit, the aims, a 
life of willing obedience, and the sal- 
vation of every creature. Xow these 
four goodly stones lie all around the 
plan of building. You may know 
that if you are erecting the wall 
upon a foundation that does not con- 
tain all four of these, you are build- 
ing unwisely and should seek for the 
true foundation and build upon it. 
O my young friends, what a struc- 
ture your strong young hands can 
raise if you build upon this founda- 
tion ! 

Be sure that the doctrine of regen- 
eration is there. Be sure that the 
doctrine of the witness of the Spirit 



The Foundation Stones. 53 

is there. Be sure that personal obe- 
dience to Christ is firmly fixed there. 
Be sure that a zeal for the salvation 
of others is not wanting. If we build 
upon this foundation, the holy she- 
kinah shall overshadow the building, 
the Holy Spirit shall dwell within 
it, and the floods shall not destroy 
it, for it is built upon a rock. 

Now, before we take up the ma- 
terial being worked into this new 
edifice of the Church, it is our de- 
sire to call vour attention to how 
Methodism has always adjusted it- 
self to the demands of the time and 
what means it has heretofore used 
in accomplishing the wonderful re- 
sults in the salvation of men. 



VII. 



The Use of Means. 




METHODISM had a peculiar 



lb origin in that it became an 
autonomy not of Mr. AVeslev's will, 
but of the will of God. It is char- 
acterized in like manner concerning 
the means used for the propagation 
of the doctrines and the accomplish- 
ment of the aims of the Church. 
Providence has presented these 
means of grace and instruction: and 
Methodism, discerning the hand 
of God, has always accepted and 
made good use of them. Take field 
preaching as a means of carrying 
the gospel to the multitude. Mr. 



(54) 



The Use op Means. 55 

Wesley did not deliberately select 
that method of preaching, but by 
circumstances was forced to go into 
the fields in order to preach spirit- 
ual religion. He soon discovered by 
the presence and blessing of the 
Holy Spirit that it was of God's di- 
rection. It proved to be exactly 
what the people needed, and was an 
important factor in the salvation of 
that class who had been almost lost 
to spiritual influence. 

Then look at lay preaching. By 
this is meant the preaching of the 
gospel by unordained and sometimes 
by unlearned men. Wesley did not 
consider the need of the time, and in- 
augurate a system of lay preaching 
to meet it. On the contrary, it re- 



56 Our New Building. 

quired a little while for him, and es- 
pecially for his brother Charles, to 
become adjusted to it. God led 
them into this method of meeting an 
emergency in the work. The bless- 
ing of God upon the lay workers 
won both the brothers to a hearty 
acceptance and use of them in Meth- 
odism. 

Class meeting originated in the 
great need of spiritual oversight and 
the rapid increase of converts. The 
number of people brought under the 
care of the preachers increased more 
rapidly than the preachers. So it 
became necessary to divide the 
membership into classes, and to ap- 
point for each a leader who should 
take spiritual oversight and assist 



The Use of Means. 57 

them in developing holy lives. 
Class meeting became a great means 
of grace. 

The new life in Methodism found 
not the hymns with which to sing 
their prayers and rejoicings to God. 

Another divine indication was 
there, and Charles Wesley became 
the bard of spiritual song. Excel- 
lent use was made of this means of 
grace. 

Religious instruction pressed upon 
them, and the need of literature and 
education led to the founding of 
schools and to the writing of books. 
AVhen God opened this way for do- 
ing good, they entered it heartily. 

"We might go on tracing out the 
lines of God's providence in leading 



58 Oue New Building. 

the Methodists into the use of the 
means of his ordaining, and might 
continue to call attention to the hap- 
py results that followed ; but enough 
has been written to make clear the 
fact that the means for the accom- 
plishment of Methodism's mission in 
the world have usually grown out of 
the development of the work and the 
needs of the hour, rather than from 
men's theories of work. 

It now transpires that the need of 
the time and the call of God appeals 
to the young men and young women 
of the Church. A thoughtful look 
at the development and working of 
the young people's movement will, 
we believe, convince one that God 
is in it* The Epworth League has 



The Use of Means, 59 

come to us almost without our bid- 
ding, and as a means for the accom- 
plishing of gracious results has been 
presented to our hands by the same 
Providence that has hitherto watched 
over the destiny of Methodism, and 
springs out of a deep need of this 
day. The imminent danger now to 
you young people arises from the fact 
that such overwhelming influences 
are being brought to bear upon you 
to win your affection from Christ 
and fix it upon the world. Many 
young people in the Church succumb 
to this influence and become so in 
love with worldly things and so in- 
fatuated with sinful pleasures, that 
the love of Christ is banished from 
their hearts. 



60 Our New Building. 

God, therefore, prompts you 
through the Holy Spirit, to band 
yourselves together as a counteract- 
ing force in the Church, and if you 
carry forward the work after the 
manner, of your beginning, it will 
not be very long until the Epworth 
League shall form a mighty army of 
brave and consecrated young lives 
ready to dare and to do for the bless- 
ed Master. 

May this League become, through 
the presence and power of the Holy 
Spirit, the means that shall build 
our young people up in the faith and 
experience of the gospel! So that 
ere long the daughters of Meth- 
odism shall " be as corner stones pol- 
ished after the similitude of a pal- 



The Use of Means. 61 

ace," and the sons of Methodism 
may be addressed in the language of 
the beloved apostle who wrote the 
young men of the early Church : "I 
have written unto you, young men, 
because ye are strong, and the word 
of God abideth in you, and ye have 
overcome the wicked one." 



VIII. 

The Demand for the League. 

T will be readily admitted by 
most people now that the Ep- 
worth League may be made to serve 
a good purpose in the Church. That 
much, however, may be readily ad- 
mitted by persons who see no need 
of the League, and who do not re- 
gard it of any great importance. 
This chapter will be devoted to the 
consideration of it not merely as a 
means of possible good, but as a re- 
sponse to a demand in the Church. 
It is to answer a question which 
springs up in the heart of many a 

pastor — namely, How shall we save 
(62) 



The Demand for the League. 63 

the young people from the worldly 
and harmful influences now seducing 
so many from the path of obedience, 
and secure for the Church their 
cheerful service, so that the vigor 
and buoyancy of youth shall be giv- 
en to the cause of Christ? 

In the cities and towns the al- 
lurements of gilded sin and the en- 
ticements of social vice lead many 
promising young Church members 
into habits which eventually insulate 
them from sympathy and fellowship 
with their Church, and stifle all zeal 
for the Master's cause. How sad- 
dening to the pastor's heart to see a 
young man whom he has received 
into the Church begin to show 
signs of indifference! Irregularity 



64 Our New Building. 

at church and Sunday school is fol- 
lowed by taking a seat near the door, 
then by a failure to take the sacra- 
ment of the Lord's Supper; and thus 
he loses his hold on the Church as 
the world tightens its coils around 
him, until he reaches the state of a 
complete worldling and yet is consid- 
ered a member of the Church. The 
pastor may have tried, but failed to 
bring him back to Christ. The 
Church, in our towns and cities es- 
pecially, has been losing heavily just 
along that line, as every pastor of 
such churches can testifv. In such 
cases the Church suffers doubly. It 
suffers in the loss of his consecrated 
service in Christian work, and in 
having to bear the burden of not 



The Demand for the League. 65 



only his inactivity, but also the 
heavier burden of his increasing 
worldliness. We dare say that few 
pastors have not felt the need of 
help right here, of something that 
shall bind the young people more 
closely to the Church, and constrain 
them to yield a happy and loyal obe- 
dience to Christ. 

The Sunday school, approved of 
men and blessed of the Lord, fails 
to meet this demand. The prayer 
meeting and the preaching of the 
gospel do not reach the case. Pas- 
toral visitation and instruction, what- 
ever they ought to accomplish, do 
not remedy the evil. Now all this 
is founded on reason. It is a fact 

that people, young and old alike, are 
5 



66 Oue Netv Building. 

lar^elv influenced to a course of con- 
duct or a manner of life by the force 
of a prevailing sentiment. 

This is not an opprobrious aver- 
ment, but a simple statement of fact. 
The preacher from the pulpit on 
Sunday declares truth, and loyin^ly 
warns against error, and good im- 
pressions are made: but during the 
week following, the associations and 
influences at work, in which there is 
the magnetism of social contact, 
drive from the minds of some who 
most needed to heed them the o-ood 
impressions made at church. 

And in the preacher's mingling 
with the people he can at most be 
with any one person a very short 
time, while the associations that al- 



The Demand for the League. 67 

lure away from Christ are at work 
almost constantly. Besides, the pas- 
tor, in meeting every one when he or 
she is on good behavior, fails to find 
out the weaknesses of many w 7 ho 
really need his assistance. 

This is an age of social influence. 
One must be wise enough to detect 
good or evil influence in the social 
atmosphere, or else be subject to loss 
of character before the real force at 
work in breaking one dow r n has been 
discovered. 

Now behold the demand for this 
young people's society builded upon 
the foundation pointed out. 

When the young people of a 
Church are without an active senti- 
ment for the right, and without an 



68 



Our New Building. 



expressed opinion that leads to con- 
cert of action, they may individual- 
ly maintain their Christian integri- 
ty, but young Christians from other 
portions of the country who come 
into their midst will be very liable 
to be more influenced by the active 
force of worldly society than by the 
inactive Church sentiment. Now 
the demand is for something that 
shall bring together the young peo- 
ple of the Church and create among 
them a community of purpose, that 
out of it may spring an active and 
prevailing sentiment in favor of right 
living and loyal service to Christ. 
What is known as fashionable and 
worldly society projects its influence 
so forcibly upon a town for the rea- 



The Demand for the League. 69 



son that it keeps up the magnetic 
power of gatherings and is really an 
organized force. Now the Epworth 
League is adapted to meet this very 
want. It will bind the sincerely 
Christian young people together, and 
will quicken into activity a right 
sentiment which as a leaven will 
begin to permeate society. 

The League members will not 
only have a good influence in the 
Church, but as members of the so- 
cial life of the community, by declin- 
ing to go into sin, and by a cheerful 
conformity to the laws of God, they 
will strike at the root of the evil, 
and by demonstrating the fact that 
individual or social happiness is not 
augmented by sinful indulgence 



70 



Our New Building. 



they will carry the gospel in its most 
convincing form where it is greatly 
needed and where the minister can- 
not take it: into the heart of socie- 
ty. So that this young people's 
movement is not simply to enter- 
tain and engage the young mem- 
bers of the Church in order to shield 
them from the enticements of sin, 
but has the more robust and virile 
aim of using them to be evangels of 
grace to the irreligious in society. 

If you will allow a military figure 
introduced here, the campaign of 
love and salvation is now planned 
for an invasion of the enemy's 
stronghold. The demand upon us 
is for vigorous and happy young sol- 
diers. The call for an army to make 



The Demand for the League. 71 

this invasion is to you young people 
of the Church. Many of you have 
been in quarters ever since you en- 
rolled. Some have never been in a 
fight, and know nothing of the joy 
that comes to the victorious soldier 
of the cross. The Epworth League 
is intended to give you a good drill- 
ing and send vou to the front. 
Therefore as good soldiers of Jesus 
Christ, put on the whole armor of 
God, the breastplate of righteous- 
ness, the helmet of salvation, the 
girdle of truth, the greaves of gos- 
pel preparation, the shield of faith, 
and, clasping the sword of the Spirit, 
take your place in the conquering 
host of King Immanuel. 

The Crusaders, after vain efforts 



72 Our New Building. 

to take Palestine from the infidel, 
concluded that nothing but the in- 
nocence of children could rescue the 
holy sepulcher, so a vast army of 
little ones began the march from 
Europe toward the holy city. 

Theirs was a mistaken zeal that 
sought temporal things for the king- 
dom of Christ, and it all ended in 
disaster. But ours is a crusade 
against sin and for human salvation 
and happiness, and will carry not 
the weapon of carnal warfare, but 
the more powerful one of love. In 
it we feel sure that we have the mind 
of Christ because it is the undertak- 
ing of what we know to be his will — 
that is, the salvation of people and 
the consecration of lives to the serv- 



The Demand for the League. 73 

ice of God. You young people of 
the Church have come to the king- 
dom for such a time as this, and will 
no doubt measure up to the respon- 
sibility and demand of the time. 

Now then, dear friends, let us look 
at the plan of the building which 
those in authority have constructed 
for us. 



IX. 

The Plan of the Building. 

% ( F we rightly read Church history, 
God has placed his approval upon 
denominationalism. Sectarian big- 
otry can only be displeasing to him, 
but since denominational Christen- 
dom of the past few centuries has re- 
ceived more signally God's favor 
than had the unified Christendom of 
the past thousand years, it is evi- 
dence that the Divine Mind regards 
not with displeasure the branches 
into which his Church is divided. 

A denominational spirit is not in- 
consistent with true Christian love, 

need not have in it anything un- 
(74) 



The Plan of the Building. 75 

christlike, but by massing all who 
interpret alike the Scriptures into a 
congenial body — into an harmonious 
community, increases geometrically 
their power for good as their number 
increases arithmetically. The Meth- 
odists have peculiar methods and doc- 
trines which they find that God has 
approved in the winning of millions 
of souls and in the marvelous build- 
ing up of Christ's kingdom among 
men. And if we believe that our 
Church has those tenets of faith and 
that system of government suited to 
the accomplishment of the great re- 
sults aimed at, then we wish to per- 
form our life work under the influ- 
ence of, in sympathy with, and in 
loyal obedience to Methodism. 



76 Our New Building. 

A military campaign may be car- 
ried on with infantry, cavalry, artil- 
lery, and a navy. These all under 
one government work together for 
defense or for conquest, yet they are 
distinct and separate in discipline, 
tactics, and method of fighting. An 
effort to secure a book of tactics by 
which all these separate divisions 
of a nation's military force are to be 
directed in the drill, would be an at- 
tempt to accomplish the impossible. 

So, while the evangelical Church- 
es form one grand spiritual army 
against sin, yet each has its distinct 
and appropriate methods of drilling 
for the conflict. They are coordinate 
and distinct, and yet they are fight- 
ing under the same banner, that of 



The Plan of the Building. 77 

Christ, and all seeking to establish 
his reign in the lives of men. We 
therefore recognize the value of de- 
nominationalism with reference to 
Church work. 

Now the Epworth League is not 
to be an auxiliary to the Church, not 
to be an adjunct, but is to be the 
Church itself in relation to young 
manhood and young womanhood. 
As the missionary operations are not 
the work of a separate and auxiliary 
body, but is the Church itself in its 
effort to save the souls of mankind, 
so the League is to be regarded as the 
Methodist Church in its work for and 
with young people. Now, then, if 
that be correct, the question of hav- 
ing a denominational organization 



78 



Our New Building. 



answers itself. Is there a need for 
the Methodist Church to maintain 
its separate autonomy? Is it right 
for the Missionary Board to contin- 
ue to be denominational? Should 
we have a denominational Sunday 
school? Ought the Church Exten- 
sion Board to be subordinate to some 
interdenominational board? T h e 
Church Extension work is Metho- 
dism building Methodist churches ; 
the Sunday school is the Methodist 
Church teaching the children of the 
Church, and the Epworth League is 
to be the Methodist Church drilling 
and equipping the young volunteers 
for the conquest over sin. 

A brigade of cavalry cooperate 
with and sustain a division of infan- 



The Plan of the Building. 79 

try. but they are separate in the drill, 
on the battlefield, and in the camp. 
We wish to be in touch with and 
heartily support every other young 
people's movement, and we should 
hold ourselves ever ready to cooper- 
ate with all their assaults upon the 
kingdom of unrighteousness; but we 

want to drill by Methodist tactics, 
%j * 

and (dropping back into our general 
figure) to build a Methodist edifice. 

A squadron of war ships cannot 
maneuver to the beat of a bass drum, 
but a regiment of infantry need such 
a measurer of time for the military 
step. Methodism has always been 
one of the foremost, if not the fore- 
most Church to fraternize with all 
who love the Lord in sincerity and 



80 Our New Building. 

are working for his glory; bat in all 
the manifestations of liberality to- 
ward Christians of all names denom- 
inational integrity has been strongly 
maintained, and now to loosen the 
bands of Church fealty would be an 
unnecessary and perilous act. It 
would be unnecessary, because while 
working in your denominational 
League, you may cultivate happy re- 
lationship with all other young peo- 
ples' societies. It would be perilous 
because it would tend to separate 
you from distinctive Methodist doc- 
trine, and to make you half hearted. 

Sound doctrine — and to us Metho- 
dist doctrine is that — is as essential to 
a stalwart Christian manhood as is 
a vertebral column to a robust body. 



The Plan of the Building. 81 



We are exhorted to hold fast the 
form of sound doctrine. "Now the 
doctrines of our Church are just the 
understanding we have of the Bible 
— it is the way we read the Scrip- 
tures. We believe, therefore, that 
in our system of doctrines we have 
the mind of God as given us in rev- 
elation. So that it is our duty to 
follow that line which will lead to 
the development of doctrinal integri- 
ty, and we believe the maintenance 
of denominational integrity lies along 
that line. 

A loosening of denominational 
bonds would be perilous because it 
would tend to diminish love for one's 
Church. Church pride and Church 

ambition are to be avoided, but a de- 
6 



C: 2 Oub New Building. 

votion to one's own Church is to be 
cultivated assiduously. If you can- 
not love the Church you are a mem- 
ber of — if there is incongeniality, 
whv, then, go where vour affections 
will he elicited. One who loves all 
Churches alike and has no attach- 
ment to one over another, does not 
love any of them as he ought, and 
his service to God based on that in- 
different attitude toward the Church- 
es is not what it ought to be. 

We conclude this chapter, there- 
fore, with the declaration that if 
denominationalism pervaded by the 
spirit of Christ and manifesting the 
greatest of Christian graces, love 
that never faileth. is the Heaven-ap- 
proved plan for the advancement of 



The Plan of the Building. 83 

Christ's kingdom, then a denomina- 
tional young people's society perme- 
ated with love to God and to men, is 
the proper plan for our new building. 

Why should w r e wish any other 
plan? Is there a better? Has the 
architectural plan of Methodism 
grown obsolete? Is it inadequate? 
~No. The plan is a good one. In 
fact, to Methodists, it is the best 
plan ever made, because to them it 
conforms to "the pattern show r ed in 
the mount," and is adjusted to the 
progress of the ages. 



X. 

Material: Bible Study. 

AKE the Bible aS cL book or as 
a library of sixty-six volumes, 
and from whatever view you look at 
its contents it is incomparably su- 
perior to any other work the world 
has ever known. As a history of 
the human race, within its professed 
scope, it transcends all other histo- 
ries. It lays no claim to being an 
exhaustive universal history, but 
gives the records of the nations only 
as they touch the line of God's prov- 
idence in redemption. However, 
with only this incidental record, its 

annals of the world are of great val- 

(84) 




Mateeial: Bible Study. 85 

ue. The main line of Bible history 
is to trace out the rise, development, 
and fall of that wonderful nation 
over whom David and Solomon 
reigned, and of whom the Messiah 
was born. 

The historical points of scripture 
have stood the test of the severest 
scrutiny and criticism. It is very 
difficult for any one to find a historic- 
al inaccuracy ; although, were a num- 
ber of them to be clearly proved, 
that would not lessen the authority 
of the Bible. 

In Acts xiii. 7 Luke incidentally 
states that Sergius Paulus was pro- 
consul of the country. It is said 
that critics for a long time pointed 
to that as an inaccuracy, basing their 



86 Our New Building* 

statement upon the supposed fact that 
Cyprus had no proconsul. But late 
investigation has revealed, through 
the coin of that day, that Paulus 
was indeed a proconsul. 

The history of the Hebrew race is 
a most wonderful record ; and if you 
will read it like you read other 
books, with an effort to grasp the 
whole compass of that marvelous 
epoch, you will find it very interest- 
ing reading. 

If you like to read poetry, where 
can you find anything of better sus- 
tained poetic imagination than the. 
book of Job ? What lyrics are com- 
parable to the Psalms of David and 
his fellow - composers ? Have you 
ever read the book of Job and 



Material; Bible Study. 8? 

Psalms as you read Tennyson, for 
the beauty of diction and the exalt- 
ed thought? 

Young people are likely to fall 
into the mistake, too common, that 

the Bible has no value as a literary 

*j 

or historical production, and is to 
be read onlv from a sense of dutv* 
That is a mistaken notion which you 
should shun. If in your meetings 
you should take up the Psalms or 
Job as a book of poems, and have 
each member to recite from it .a se- 
lect thought, just as in our schools 
of learning we are invited to an 
evening with Longfellow, the beauty 
of inspired poetry would lend inter- 
est to the reading of the Bible. 
In Bible study we are to re in em- 



88 Our New Building. 

ber that revelation was progressive 
from the first declaration and prom- 
ise, "The seed of the woman shall 
bruise the serpent's head/' till the 
full manifestation of God in the in- 
carnate Son. 

God graciously gave the revelation 
of himself and of redemption just as 
man was able to receive and appro- 
priate it, hence we perceive the grad- 
ual emerging from the darkness of 
the fall. The Lord set one star in 
the darkened firmament that over- 
hung the fallen pair ; star after star 
of promise appeared there until 
when Abraham walked out to look 
up he beheld the dark concave be- 
decked with celestial gems. 

Upon Moses and Israel the moon 



Material: Bible Study. 89 

of ritualism rose and reflected the 
light which it borrowed from the 
Sun of Righteousness, the passover 
lamb with sprinkled blood being the 
reflection of the Lamb of God that 
taketh away the sin of the world. 
Isaiah sat upon the prophetic mount 
in the morning twilight, and with 
rapture beheld in the east the rosy 
pencilings of approaching day ; then 
the Sun arose, revealing God in the 
flesh, and in his light we all rejoice. 
Revelation necessarily had a period 
of incompleteness, but at every stage 
it was perfect. 

In the study of God's word we 
also must take cognizance of the 
fact that the inspired writers spoke 
of natural phenomena in terms of 



90 Our New Building, 

men's understanding of them. In 
the book of Joshua the sun and 
moon are said to stand still. We 
now speak of the sun's apparent mo- 
tion, and of the moon's real journey 
around the earth, but to the ancients 
both sun and moon had a real motion 
around the earth as a center. It 
would be taken by all as a base in- 
terpolation if there should be found 
a manuscript of the book of Joshua 
in which the astronomical accuracy 
of the nineteenth century of our 
Lord appeared in the description of 
the miracle wrought in favor of the 
valiant leader of Israel. 

In the study of the Bible you 
must discriminate between what the 
Bible really says and what men's 



Material: Bible Study. 91 

opinions make it say. The writer 
once read an article on the discovered 
mummy of the Pharoah of the op- 
pression. When relating the fact to 
a class of young men, he was met 
with the question : " How can that be 
when the Bible says he was drowned 
in the Red Sea?'"' An investigation 
afterward revealed the fact that the 
Bible does not say that the Pharoah 
of the Exodus was drowned. 

Manv difficulties arise in our 

m 

minds from the fact that we read, but 
do not heed what is actually written. 
Sometimes we get our ideas of scrip- 
ture from a picture we have seen, 
and not from the Bible narrative, 
We do not read Ovid that way, nor 
Cicero nor astronomy nor chemistry. 



92 Our New Building. 

But you are to study the Bible in 
order to learn the revealed will of 
your Heavenly Father concerning 
your life here and your destiny for 
the future. Read it as the manifes- 
tation of divine love, read it as the 
expression of tender compassion 
from Him who " so loved the world, 
that he gave his only begotten Son, 
that whosoever believeth in him 
should not perish, but have everlast- 
ing life." As you thus read, trust 
the promises and keep the command- 
ments. Put Bible study in our new 
building. 



Material : Works of Charity axd 
Help. 



HEX people join the Church, 



/ T; they ought to have something; 
to do, some way in which they may 
employ heart and hand for the Mas- 
ter. The more nearly, therefore, 
you can utilize the entire body of 
young people of the Church, the 
more good you will accomplish for 
them. Good works, we maintain, 
are the fruit of faith and are pleas- 
ing and acceptable to God as an 
evidence of faith in Christ and of 
love for him. Jesus told his disci- 
ples and the people that tne judg- 
ment will be based upon what we 




(93) 



94 Our New Building. 

have clone for him, and that what we 
have done for him will be measured 
by what we have done for our fellow- 
men for his sake. So that a life of 
faith in Christ will be manifested by 
a life of Christian activity, in charity 
and help. If faith in Christ that 
brings forgiveness of sins and regen- 
eration be not fruitful of good works, 
it will die, for we are told by the 
apostle James that faith without 
works is dead. So you should see 
that this important material is used. 
The Epworth League should become 
the channel through which every 
young convert and every young man 
or young lady who comes into the 
Church by certificate from any other 
community will readily and freely 



t 



Works of Charity and Help. 95 

expend their energy in cheerful serv- 
ice to the Master. It is very essen- 
tial to successful Christian work that 
the time of beginning to serve be not 
deferred until the buoyancy of young 
life has disappeared, for people rare- 
ly become active workers in the 
Church in middle life or in old age 
after they have spent their youth 
and young manhood in Church mem- 
bership characterized by religious 
idleness. In the business world, 
habits of industry or of idleness ac- 
quired in youth generally persist to 
the close of life, so that a young man 
practically fixes his destiny in busi- 
ness relations by the habits he forms 
in youth. This law holds good with 
reference to the development of mor- 
al and spiritual life. 



96 Our New Building. 

The Epworth League, therefore, 
will prove to be of inestimable bene- 
fit to Methodism if it seizes upon 
the young and vigorous life just 
coming into Church membership, and 
directs it at once to some line of 
service to Christ that tends to develop 
the habit of good works from a sense 
of love to the Saviour. We are 
creatures of habit. When once a 
good or a bad habit fixes itself in our 
lives, it sets up an equal claim with 
nature; and, as a rule, people by 
their actions acknowledge the valid- 
ity of the claim. Since, therefore, 
we are creatures of habit, it is wise 
to seek the development of good 
habits. As the habit of doing good 
and working for Christ is acquired 



Works op Chaeity and Help. 97 

upon the right basis, the individual 
grows more and more in the expe- 
rience of a happy life. A working 
Christian is a joyful person, but an 
indolent Church member is not hap- 
py and cannot be because he is daily 
losing ground. How can that per- 
son take pleasure in God or in Church 
work whose time and thought are 
engrossed with the things of the 
world to the exclusion of prayer and 
the study of God's word? He does 
not attend Sunday school; gives no 
help to the poor; takes no interest 
in the prayer meeting. The Ep- 
worth League should take away 
much of that kind of trouble in the 
Church by winning people into serv- 
ing the Master and doing something 
7 



98 Our New Building. 

for his cause. Love prompts one to 
do something for the person loved, 
and the performing of a deed from 
such motives strengthens that love. 
Jesus seemed to lay stress upon 
that fact in human lives when he 
three times asked Peter if he loved 
him and three times replied to the 
apostle's asseveration of love with 
a call to do something for him: 
" Feed my sheep/' The Epworth 
League may ask the young Christian, 
"Do you love Christ?" and add, 
" If you do, then come with us and 
help us show our love by the work of 
charity and help which we shall per- 
form for the poor and needy as unto 
him." 



XII. 



Mateeial : Methodist Literature. 



HE founder of Methodism was 



V|r a strong and voluminous writer, 
and early in the history of the Meth- 
odist movement began to circulate 
literature in keeping with the doc- 
trines he taught. He wisely chose 
books and pamphlets as effective 
weapons in his aggressive war 
against sin. Following the example 
of its great founder, Methodism has 
made a record in the distribution of 
religious literature. In the early 
days of the itinerancy, and, in- 
deed, up to the last generation of 
preachers, in his round of circuit 




(99) 



100 Oue New Building. 



preaching the pastor carried with 
him in his vade mecum, the indispen- 
sable saddlebags, a supply of books, 
such as he thought suited to the 
needs of the people, and thus at 
every church and every home into 
which he entered he brought the 
people into contact with Methodist 
literature. He then had the field 
and was the recognized dispenser of 
religious books. 

People looked forward to his com- 
ing on his regular monthly round as 
to an opportunity for purchasing the 
books needed by their families. The 
preacher, being thus related to the 
people with regard to their reading, 
had a most excellent opportunity for 
encouraging them to thoroughly in- 



Methodist Literature. 101 



form themselves concerning the his- 
tory, the doctrines and the work of 
Methodism. The conditions of itin- 
erancy and the relation of pastor and 
people have so materially changed 
that the Methodist preacher cannot 
be the factor in the reading habits of 
his people that his predecessor was, 
but with the change of conditions 
the need for the reading of Metho- 
dist literature by Methodists and the 
study of Methodist polity by Metho- 
dists has been augmented rather than 
decreased. In this day the people 
come in contact with the varied and 
cheap literature, much of which is 
good, more of it evil. While you 
ride on the railway trains, there is 
brought to you by the newsboy, at 



102 Oue New Building. 

frequent intervals, a lot of such 
books, usually of the latter class. 
The young people especially find it 
so easy to drop into the bad habit of 
reading only that which is light and 
frivolous. And the more of such 
works they read, the less taste they 
have for the more substantial kind 
of reading. It works disaster to in- 
tellect and piety to be thrust out into 
the current of this light literature, 
which varies in its depth from the 
merely unprofitable to the positively 
vicious, when one has not previously 
been well trained in the mental ath- 
letics of sound reading ; for, untrained 
to stem the current, one is usually 
swept down the stream and loses 
that vigor and purity of mind essen- 



Methodist Literature. 103 

tial to true manhood. The cry is 
sometimes heard that the good liter- 
ature is stale and heavy while the 
other is bright and attractive, and 
that is why the light literature of 
the clay has the ascendency over that 
of the Church in the minds of some 
young people. But such an hypoth- 
esis is not necessary to the solution 
of the matter. Some young people 
are very fond of fancy candies and 
dainties, and eat so frequently of 
them that they have no appetite for 
substantial food. The trouble is loca- 
ted in their depraved and abnormal 
taste, the gratifying of which leads 
to disease. So it is in the matter of 
which we are writing. Some people 
give themselves mental dyspepsia 



104 Our New Building. 

by their habits of reading and think- 
ing, and the natural result is a dis- 
inclination to what is solid and sub- 
stantial. 

As material to be wrought into 
this great building, you should seek 
to arouse a deep interest in the minds 
of all our young people in the study 
of Methodist history, biography, doc- 
trines, and government. 

We do not wish to be understood 
as advocating the reading of our 
Church literature to the exclusion 
of all other. Not at all. We do 
not partake of the Moslem general's 
mind who ordered the burning of 
the Alexandrian library, and gave 
as his reason for it that if the books 
in it contained what was in the Ko- 



Methodist Literature. 105 

ran they were not needed, and if 
they contained what was not in the 
Koran they were false, and hence de- 
struction was inevitable. We are 
sorry he had that great collection of 
books and manuscripts burned, for 
we want every worthy book in the 
world to be printed and read. 

There are books of history, poetry, 
science, philosophy, and even works 
of fiction that are to be read. There 
are a number of works of fiction, the 
tone and morals, the diction and sen- 
timent, of which help to build one up 
in nobility of character. But in the 
reading of fiction you need to be very 
prudent and judicious. With this wide 
field of reading before them, young 
Methodists are liable to overlook 



106 Our New Building. 

the very important literature of their 
Church, for the reason that it is not 
so conspicuously handy as the other. 
For in their homes books of poems, 
secular histories, works of fiction 
and of science are usually found in 
the library, and their teachers at 
college and school call their attention 
to this and that fact in history, a 
sentiment in poetry, a character in 
fiction, or a discovery in science, so 
they are led to give these a perusal 
when under other circumstances they 
would not. And very few home li- 
braries contain a history of Meth- 
odism, biographies of Methodist he- 
roes and heroines or the books writ- 
ten by Methodist intellects. Their 
daily studies and recitations bring 



Methodist Literature. 107 

to remembrance more frequently the 
heroes of the " Iliad" and " Odyssey" 
than of the Lutheran or Weslevan 
reformation. This is not an outburst 
of pessimism, but a statement of your 
early environments. This state of 
things makes it difficult to work up 
a lively interest in our literature, but 
the difficulty of arousing an interest 
is a very strong evidence that it is 
an important matter. 

It shows that we need to cultivate 
a habit of reading along this line. 
Many of us are ignorant of what 
literature Methodism has produced. 
We need to be brought into com- 
munion with our heroes of the past, 
and in touch with the master spirits 
of the Methodism of to-day. A citi- 



108 Our New Building. 

zen is more intelligently loyal and pa- 
triotic by being informed concerning 
the history and achievements of his 
nation. So it is with the Church. 
We expect the best service from 
those who enter with most intelli- 
gent enthusiasm into the work. A 
young lawyer who had been reared 
under the influence of his father 
considered himself a Whig until, 
after being nominated for an office 
as a Whig, he gave diligent study 
to the two parties, and then declined 
the nomination because he was a 
Democrat. 

This fact is here used onlv as an 
illustration. We all need to know 
why we are Methodists. We need 
to be able to give a reason for our 



Methodist Literature. 109 

adherence to the Church other than 
that our parents belonged to it. 
Children should join the Church of 
their parents ; but young Methodists 
should love their Church because 
they know her doctrines, history, 
and polity. 

Now, the literature of our common 
Methodism is neither scant nor me- 
diocre. It w T ill compare favorably 
with any other Church literature of 
the world, and does not lose by com- 
parison with the products of the fore- 
most intellects in the world of letters. 
Our own Church is not without a cred- 
itable literature. The indication now 
is that the Southland, and our Church 
with it, borders on an era of splendid 
literarv achievement. 



110 Otm New Building. 

So that young people who desire 
to devote a portion of their reading 
to Methodist literature will soon dis- 
cover that there is, and will continue 
to be, an abundance of excellent 
reading matter. 

Therefore, if you use freely this 
material in the Epworth League 
building, and shall succeed in thus 
establishing the young people in the 
doctrines and history of Methodism, 
making intelligent Christians and 
Methodists of them, you will have 
accomplished a great work for the 
Church. 



XIII. 

Material: Social Enjoyment. 

m the clays of the "Holy Club" 
at Oxford, and of the earlv Meth- 
odists in Europe and America, such 
things as social enjoyments and 
amusements could not have been 
mentioned to them with their ap- 
proval. 

But the condition and surround- 
ings of the Church of to-day are so 
changed that, with the same aim of 
spreading scriptural holiness over 
these lands, social enjojnuent and 
even amusements of a proper char- 
acter are not incompatible with the 

conception of a spiritual and holy 

(ill) 



112 Our New Building. 

life. Recreation of the proper sort 
and in due bounds is not only not a 
waste of time, but is a positive pro- 
moter of intellectual and spiritual 
vigor. 

"A merry heart doeth Q-ood like a 
medicine," said the speaker of wise 
proverbs. And it is true that the 
cultivating of a cheerful mind gives 
strength to the efforts of life. God 
gave us the faculty of laughter, and 
created us to desire and to enjoy so- 
cial and happy relations with others. 
In following wisely and prudently 
the social instinct we are in the line 
of the best and highest development. 
The harmful amusements and the 
hurtful social enjoyments are the 
perversions of what is good and 



Social Enjoyment. 113 

helpful. And in writing this there 
is no slur cast upon the memory of 
the noble heroes of early Methodism 
who felt called to look to the serious 
side of life, and to live daily with 
solemn reference to the judgment. 

Their environment was such that 
the natural course to be taken by 
honest and earnest men and women 
would be to eschew social pleasure 
and to cultivate seriousness. They, 
no doubt, did the wisest thing, and 
what brought forth the best re- 
sults; but now the requisition upon 
us is that we shall present to the 
world the demonstration that a con- 
secrated and deeply pious person 
has the best right to wear a bright 

face and to be socially attractive. 
8 



114 Our New Building. 



What more winning and captiva- 
ting could there be than a cultured 
young lady, beautiful in form and 
face, fascinating in manner, brilliant 
in conversation, who carries into all 
her social relations the brightness of 
her happy life, and yet the periphery 
of whose acts and conversation is 
the will of Jesus her Lord, and who 
bravely and unhesitatingly declines 
to transgress the laws of God or to 
indulge in what is of doubtful pro- 
priety? 

Now the Epworth League is or- 
ganized with recognition of the spir- 
it of laughter which the omniscient 
Creator gave to us all, and with the 
intention of leading out on lines of 
social enjoyment and of allowing 



Social Enjoyment. 115 

amusements consistent with fidelity 
to Christ. 

But that League which forms itself 
and gathers in members on the so- 
cial feature, to the subordination of 
personal righteousness and faithful 
work for Christ, makes a dismal 
failure, and can retrieve the mistake 
only by going back to the beginning 
and taking a new start. 

Let all who have looked favorably 
upon the Epworth League only as 
an avenue for the seeking of social 
enjoyment stop and think over the 
matter. If you ever had such an 
idea, it was grossly wrong. Let 
them call to mind the purpose of 
Methodism in the world, and be ad- 
monished that every means made 



116 Oub New Building. 

use of must bear upon it the stamp 
of fidelity and obedience to Christ. 

Now, after the League has been or- 
ganized upon the fundamental prin- 
ciples of Methodism, and the mem- 
bers recognize these principles, we 
may seek to make use of the social 
feature as a wise but subordinate 
means for developing and encourag- 
ing the happy social side of a Chris- 
tian's life. This part of the League 
must be wisely managed, so that its 
proper subordination shall always 
be preserved. It must be kept be- 
fore the minds of all that we are first 
to seek the kingdom of Christ and 
his righteousness, then these things 
follow in their appropriate order* 

Lord Macaulay, one of England's 



Social Enjoyment. 117 

great historians, said that the Puri- 
tans disliked bear baiting not be- 
cause it hurt the bear, but because 
the people enjoyed it. In this sar- 
casm there is food for thought. It 
is what you enjoy that declares to 
you and to the world your real char- 
acter. Whatever protestations to 
the contrary you may make, what 
gives you enjoyment indexes your 
soul. 

If vulgar and obscene conversa- 
tion and anecdotes give you pleas- 
ure, you at heart are vulgar; if 
worldly and sinful pleasures are 
most attractive to you, you need to 
get your heart right. The enjoy- 
ment of brutal sports, if not the in- 
dication of a brutal nature, will de- 



118 Our New Building. 

velop it if persisted in. The Cae- 
sars feasted their soldiers upon the 
brutalities and cruelties of the are- 
na, where thousands of men were 
butchered to make a Roman holi- 
day. A cruel and brutal disposition 
suited the fierce wars of that age, 
and their enjoyments fostered that 
character. 

If you intelligently love with all 
your heart the Lord Jesus, you can- 
not habitually get enjoyment out of 
what grieves him. If you are a 
child of God, having been re-creat- 
ed in the image of Christ, and pre- 
serve your Christian integrity, your 
pleasures, social and individual, 
will, of necessity, be consonant 
with that state of heart and life. 



Social Enjoyment. 119 

"Rejoice in the Lord" means not 
only to be happy in communion 
with God, but in all your merry- 
making, in all your laughter let 
everything be based on your love to 
Christ. 

There has been vaguely floating 
about in the minds of young peo- 
ple the thought that if you want 
to be happy and merry - hearted 
you must step outside the circle of 
religion and enter the enchanted 
grounds of the worldlings. But 
that is a wholly mistaken idea. 
The Christian young lady or young 
man has a perfect right to be 
vivacious within the radius of his 
Church relations. You do not have 
to enter places of worldly amuse- 



120 Our New Building. 

ments in order to laugh heartily. 
Be happy in the Lord; be happy 
because you are a child of God; be 
happy in all things consistent with 
the relation you sustain to Christ. 
Happiness of that sort is unalloyed, 
but the cup of pleasure one drinks 
at the sacrifice of fidelity to Jesus 
has bitterness in it. 

Methodist preachers are usually 
consecrated and self-denying men, 
given to the one work of saving 
souls. But who has more social en- 
joyment or laughs more or tells 
so many anecdotes? Have these 
Methodist itinerants discovered, 
what many failed to find out, that 
consecrated labor and social enjoy- 
ment are joined in the bonds of 



Social Enjoyment. 121 

matrimony? It seems that they 
have. 

Let ns look into the home of a 
good steward on some country cir- 
cuit. The circuit rider's horse con- 
tentedly eats of the sweet-scented 
clover hay from the farmer's stable 
rack, while his master breaks bread 
with the farmer and his family. 
Do you hear the peals of laughter 
that come from the dining room? 
Do you hear the sound of merry 
voices? That preacher brought 
with him a great big beam of sun- 
shine and turned it loose in that 
household. The little children are 
happy because the preacher is there; 
the old grandmother smiles because 
the preacher has come. Every one 



122 Oue New Building. 

laughs and is filled with gladness. 
But now the house boy has brought 
the horse from the stable, and he 
stands at the gate waiting for his 
master. The family gather around 
the fireside, and the preacher reads 
and comments on one of the beau- 
tiful Psalms, and then all kneel in 
devout prayer. Do you hear him 
as he holds that family before God 
in his prayer? He prays for the 
aged handmaid of the Lord, for the 
father and mother, and for the dear 
children, and commends them all to 
the grace of God. As they rise, 
the grandmother brushes from her 
cheek a tear that tells of her emo- 
tion, and, before the preacher 
mounts his horse, the father grasps 



Social Enjoyment. 123 



his hand heartily and says: "Thank 
you for your coming, and for your 
good prayer for me and mine/ 9 

That man of God has carried to 
that home a day of social joy, and 
left with them a rich spiritual bene- 
diction. 

Then, my friends, to give social 
enjoyment its right setting in this 
great building which you are now 
erecting is both wise and impor- 
tant. This is good material and is 
needed, but must be made to add 
to the beauty of the structure, and 
not allowed to mar it. 

" You hear that boy laughing? you think he's all fun ; 
But the angels laugh, too, at the good he has done. 
The children laugh loud as they troop to his call, 
And the poor man that knows him laughs loudest 
of all." 



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